Students Need Not Appear for ACT or SAT to Take Admission in Most Georgia Colleges

The candidates who aspire to apply for Georgia’s state university do not need to take the SAT or ACT exam as a criterion for admission during the next academic year. The chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, declared on Thursday that, the college-admissions exams will only be required at Georgia Tech and the University Of Georgia. The other 24 schools in the system will be test-optional for students who enroll in the fall of 2023 through the summer of 2024.

At a Georgia Board of Regents meeting, Perdue accused the college enrollment challenges, and the threat of large majority of students moving out of states to join colleges that don’t require the tests, as reasons for extending the waiver. Experts say, “The sudden changes in the admission criteria has led to adverse consequences for smaller USG schools, as many candidates who might have enrolled at those schools have rather chosen  larger schools”.

Students seeking the Zell Miller Scholarship, funded by the Georgia Lottery, which tends to cover the full tuition at University System schools, still require an ACT or SAT score. Although the test scores for ACT or SAT are not required for the candidates seeking for the HOPE scholarship, which covers most of the tuition fees at those schools. Perdue also mentioned that the discussion as well as the final decision on the future of the test requirement will be scheduled in the spring, after the university officials study the retention rates and academic success of the colleges in fall of 2022 as compared to fall of 2021.